AllanThinks

Steed

Taken at the Lexington Junior League Horse Show.

As always, if you click on the photo, you will be taken to its page in my Flickr photostream. You can view a larger version there.

Twins

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Foot Hills

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Taken in Berea, Kentucky last Thursday. A view of the Appalachian foothills.

Untitled

This is a photo of Emily Hagihara, a member of the Lexington band Chico Fellini, who played the Beaux Arts Ball Saturday night.

I am slowly, but surely, working my way through the close to 500 photos I took Saturday. There are a few already up on my Flickr stream.

As always, you can click on the image, and see a larger version on Flickr.

Kind of meta, don't you think?

I took this photo Saturday night at the 40th annual Beaux Arts Ball in Lexington. There was a photo booth set up where attendees could have their photo taken for free.

Sometimes photographs compose themselves.

As always, if you click the photo, you will be taken to it's page on my Flickr photostream, where you can see a larger version of it. And I think it looks even better in the large version.

Mother Nature is kind of a bitch this time of year.

The weather has been glorious the past two days. Sunny, warm, an barely a cloud in the sky.

Yesterday Alison and I took our cameras, and went for a long walk down to the University campus, where we took photos and did some shopping. We ended up stopping at Pazzo's Pub, one of our favorite watering holes, where we sat out on their patio, drank a few beers in honor of St. Patrick, and enjoyed an appetizer of pesto bread.

We ran into some old friends of mine, and were later joined by some more friends who shared a couple of pitchers of Kentucky Ale, and some more appetizers with us. They were kind enough to give us a ride home five hours after we had set out on our adventure.

Today, we rode our bicycles downtown to Third Street Stuff Coffee and Gift Shop, where Alison had iced tea, and I had iced coffee. We haven't had the bikes out of the garage since last fall. It was great to ride again, despite having to navigate the terrible traffic in this town. The ride home was during rush hour, and my knuckles were white by the time we got home.

It would be nice to do it again tomorrow, but the weather is expected to be rainy, and the temperature some 25 degrees lower than it was yesterday and today.

This winter has seemed twice as long as usual for Kentucky. I am so over it. But it looks like it will be a while before the spring weather will be here to stay.

I will be so glad when winter is over.

Clicking the image will take you to its Flickr page. You can see a larger version there.

Despite being able to take photos like this.

The ice is gone from the trees and power lines, but there is still ice on the lawns, and on some sidewalks and streets. Our street was plowed the past two days, and is more or less free of ice.

I spent a lot of time last night and today trying to get the three inches of ice and packed, frozen, slush off the back porch. I finally cleared it, only to have the water left behind refreeze into a thin layer of black ice. And ice melter is in very short supply in town.

This afternoon, while downtown with Alison, I slipped on ice, and fell like a sack of potatoes. On my right side this time, unlike just before Christmas, when I skated off the porch and landed on my left side.

When we got home, I took some Advil and arnica, but I have a feeling I am going to be very stiff and sore in the morning. I'm already aching all over.  I wonder if bourbon would help.

And to top it off, there is snow forecast for overnight and tomorrow.

Happy Groundhog Day.

Weather Update

As many of you know, Kentucky, along with a large part of the midwest, was hit by a very severe winter storm this week. Snow, followed by 24 hours of freezing rain, followed by more snow.

From what I have read, and heard, it is as bad as, or worse than the storm in 2003.

I have been stressed out about it all week, wondering if the power was going to go out here like it did then. That was a very traumatic few days for me, and I have had flashbacks all this week. Many of my friends have as well.

Luckily, Alison and I have not lost power to our house. Many around us have though, and many might not have their power restored for 2 weeks or more. With the trees and power lines coated with a half inch of ice, we could still find ourselves in the dark.

The precipitation ended yesterday morning, and in the afternoon, we went for a walk around the neighborhood. Conditions were bad. Trees and utility lines were down everywhere, and many streets were blocked.

Tuesday night, and yesterday, I took a lot of photos. It was one way I tried to keep my fears at bay.

I also tried to find some beauty in the destruction.

You can view a brief slideshow of my photos after the jump.

One more before I try to get some sleep

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This Afternoon

And this evening.

As always, the photos are clickable. If you do click them, you will be taken to their Flickr pages, where you can see a larger version of them.

Stand In The Place Where You Are

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Not as bad as it could have been.

When I awoke this morning, there was about one and a half inches of snow on the ground, but the precipitation had changed back to a very light rain. Unfortunately, it was 25 degrees outside.

This wasn't nearly as bad as the half inch of ice and four inches of snow that the weather service had predicted at one time yesterday.

The current winter storm warning, which is in effect until 7 p.m., calls for a mixture of sleet and freezing rain today, with as much as a quarter inch of ice accumulating.

Right now, it is not raining, sleeting, or snowing, and the temperature is up to 28 degrees.

The radar seems to indicate the storm has moved to our northeast. I hope there isn't anything else coming in from the southwest.

Oh. Crap.

...WINTER STORM WARNING NOW IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 PM EST /6 PM CST/ TUESDAY... AN AREA OF PRECIPITATION WILL MOVE BACK INTO THE REGION TONIGHT WITH THE HEAVIEST AMOUNTS EXPECTED TO FALL AFTER 4AM.

ACROSS SOUTH CENTRAL INDIANA AND NORTH CENTRAL KENTUCKY A MIXTURE OF SNOW AND SLEET IS EXPECTED... CHANGING TO SLEET AND FREEZING RAIN LATE TUESDAY AFTERNOON. ACROSS SOUTH CENTRAL KENTUCKY A MIX OF SLEET AND FREEZING RAIN WILL LIKELY OCCUR WITH THE PREVALENT PRECIPITATION BEING FREEZING RAIN.

OVER THE BLUEGRASS REGION OF CENTRAL KENTUCKY A MIX OF SNOW AND SLEET IS EXPECTED TONIGHT... CHANGING TO ALL FREEZING RAIN BY MID MORNING TUESDAY. THE FREEZING RAIN WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE DAY AND GRADUALLY CHANGE TO RAIN TUESDAY NIGHT.

THE MIXED PRECIPITATION WILL GREATLY AFFECT THE TUESDAY MORNING AND AFTERNOON COMMUTE. FREEZING RAIN MAY ALSO SNAP POWER LINES AND TREE BRANCHES. REMEMBER... DO NOT TOUCH A DOWNED POWER LINE.

THIS WINTER STORM WARNING MEANS SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS SLEET OR FREEZING RAIN ARE EXPECTED. THIS WILL MAKE TRAVEL VERY HAZARDOUS OR IMPOSSIBLE.

Unfortunately, the mix of snow and sleet expected over our area tonight is actually a mix of freezing rain and sleet.

This could get ugly.

Oh Snap!

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LOUISVILLE HAS ISSUED A WINTER
STORM WARNING...EFFECTIVE FROM NOON EST /11 AM CST/ TODAY TO 7 AM
EST /6 AM CST/ TUESDAY. THE WINTER STORM WATCH IS NO LONGER IN
EFFECT.

ONE TO FOUR INCHES OF SNOW AND ICE ARE EXPECTED TO ACCUMULATE THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. THIS WINTRY MIX WILL AFFECT THE MONDAY AFTERNOON AND TUESDAY MORNING RUSH HOUR.

I don't mind the snow. It's the ice part that scares me. It's only been 5 years since the last cataclysmic ice storm here.

That's just too soon.

I hope they are wrong.

Bonnie "Prince" Billy

Stephen Fry does Kentucky

Stephen Fry, the British actor and television host, has a current TV series in which he travels throughout the United States. The series is described as such:

The brilliant, lovely, witty, kind, warm-hearted and delicious Stephen Fry drives through America with his black English taxicab visiting every state fighting the ignorance and misconceptions outsiders might have about The United States Of America. To really get to know "the Americans", as it were, we have to explore the people, culture, landscapes and activities state by state, for there are some great differences.

In this episode, he visits Kentucky. Central Kentucky specifically.

The young man who he interviews, Griffin Van Meter, is an acquaintance of ours. We never knew he had a tattoo, though.

Check out the part where Fry visits the Woodford Reserve Distillery. It's a hoot.

I really wish this series would be shown on BBC America. All we ever see there anymore is crappy reality programming for the most part.

Snake In The Grass

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I took this photo last evening at the birthday party of a friend. An adult friend.

This 10 foot long python was one of about a dozen snakes and lizards brought by a local man who rescues reptiles from abuse and neglect. He supports his work by hiring them out for events like this.

Granted, most of the birthday parties he works are for kids, but no matter. There were lots of kids in attendance at the party last night, and they all had a blast handling all the creatures.

I ran home and grabbed my camera, which I forgot when I first went over there.

There are more photos on my Flickr photostream, and I have more to upload.

And for the photogeeks:

Exposure: 0.008 sec (1/125)
Aperture: f/8
Focal Length: 105 mm
ISO Speed: 400
Exposure Bias: 0/6 EV

Alison In Reflected Sunlight

 
 
 

 
 
 

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I took this photo this evening when we were downtown at the Thursday Night Live concert at Cheapside Park. The setting sun reflected off the glass of the Fifth Third building, then off the glass of the adjacent Lexington Financial Center, and finally came to rest upon Alison.

Our friend Cathy, from Port Townsend, WA was with us, as was our friend Jason. After the concert ended, we headed to Atomic Café, where we dined on the patio. The food was fantastic, the weather perfect, and the company beyond compare.

Life is good.

I Spy...

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Exposure: 0.01 sec (1/100)
Aperture: f/5.6
Focal Length: 270 mm
ISO Speed: 400
Exposure Bias: 0/6 EV

310 Pounds of Glory

It wasn't the prettiest win, but it was still a win. Over Louisville. 27-2.

Go Cats!

Reduced

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An entire block of historic buildings in the center of Lexington is being torn down in the name of progress. To make way for a monstrosity of a phallic monument to the pathetic lives of two men.

And our mayor, who campaigned on a reform platform, sold out to these men, and made it impossible for anyone to stop this senseless destruction.

I am so disappointed in my city.

Right now, I wish I lived anywhere but here.

Remembered

On the Saturday following Memorial Day, a ceremony was taking place at the Lexington Cemetery to remember those who fought for the Confederacy during the Civil War, and who are buried there.

Alison and I happened upon it by accident. I don't know what organization was holding this memorial service, but it was a surprising sight to see these flags and flowers planted by each gravestone.

These soldiers are all buried in one section of the cemetery, near to, but not a part of the section that serves as our National Cemetery.

I guess whoever was doing this did not want these men, who were someone's children, brothers, or fathers, to be forgotten.

Our First CSA Share

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This is the haul for our first week's garden and meat shares from Elmwood Stock Farm. Elmwood is one of two (that we know of) CSA Farms in our area. CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture.

We've been talking about participating in this program for a while, wanting to do what we can to be more responsible consumers. And we found that we had been buying more of our food from local farms at the Farmer's Market.

So this year we finally signed up.

Included in our basket this week were:

Asparagus
Green Garlic
Spinach
A mixture of three lettuces
A quart of fresh strawberries
A pound of ground beef
A free-range roasting chicken

All of these are organically raised. The newsletter included in the box said they also had radishes, but they must have had limited quantities, as we didn't get any.  But that's okay.

We are very pleased with what we did receive. It was more than I expected this early in the season. 

We ate the lettuce last night, and today at lunch. We had strawberries for dessert. Tonight, Ali roasted the hen, and some of the asparagus. It was all great. We're going to eat very well this summer.

FreeKY

This is a photo of a troupe of fire dancers called Foxfire Hypnotica, who performed during the FreeKY Festival, a free festival of music, art and exhibitions of eclectic culture, held on April 26 in downtown Lexington. It was the culmination of Alternative Music Week, sponsored by WRFL, the independent, commercial free, student run radio station at the University of Kentucky.

The entire week of concerts, art shows, and other events also served as 20th anniversary celebration, and a fund raiser for the station, which plans to increase their power, and reach a wider audience.

Alison and I attended several of the events during the week, including a concert feathering Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, at The Dame the Saturday before FreeKY, a bluegrass music show at Al's Bar, and a concert and art show held at our friend Lori's shop Isle of You.

The FreeKY Festival began at 11 a.m. and continued until almost midnight, featuring a number of bands, an art exhibit, vendor booths, and community group exhibitions. The musical headliners were Jolie Holland, and The Apples In Stereo. We hope that they decide to throw another party like this next year.

Ali and I got there around 3, and stayed until it ended. We took our cameras, and we both took tons of photos. You can see her set here, and mine, here.

As always, the photo is clickable.

 

Engine 6

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Took this Friday night at the Little Kentucky Derby Balloon Glow.

All of the participants in the next day's hot air balloon races inflated their balloons and displayed them until after sunset for the enjoyment of the public.

The fire engine was a bonus.

Apparently the balloons did not race on Saturday due to the weather, so I am glad I got to see them the night before.

There are a couple of more shots from the event on my Flickr photostream.

Stones

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We went out to the Lexington Cemetery the weekend before last with a friend who was visiting from out of town, who wanted to take photos there.

This is one of the shots I took that day. We had had 4 inches of snow the night before. It had been many years since I was there after a snow storm. It looks completely different, but no less beautiful.

Exposure:  0.006 sec (31/5000)
Aperture: f/6.3
Focal Length: 82 mm
ISO Speed: 100

Micro Cosmos

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I was looking on a DVD for another older photo to try a crop on when I ran across this one taken about the same time.

I don't know why I didn't post this back in September.

Exposure:  0.004 sec (1/250)
Aperture: f/5.6
Focal Length: 105 mm
ISO Speed: 100
Exposure Bias: 0/6 EV
Exposure Program: Aperture Priority

A tip for locals who like fresh, cheap, raw oysters.

A couple of months ago, our friend Agnes mentioned that a local restaurant, The Ketch Seafood Grill, had a special on oysters every Monday night. Fresh oysters at half their usual price.

It has been years since I dined there. Alison and I have been meaning to go for some time, but never made it until last night.

We shared a platter of a dozen oysters on the half-shell. You can get them raw, or steamed. We chose to eat them raw. The dozen oysters only cost $5.95, a real bargain around these parts. Alison noted that that is comparable to what you would pay in the city where she lived in France. With them, Ali had a glass of white wine, and I had a draft beer.

When we were finished, we decided to stay for dinner. We shared a pound of boiled shrimp seasoned with Old Bay, and an order of wood grilled oysters, both very good, and quite affordable.

I am really glad to have rediscovered this place. I have a feeling we will be dining there quite often.

Oh yeah, they also have free wireless internet.

Home, Sweet Home

Alison, her kids, and I made it home late yesterday afternoon after an exhausting journey involving more airports than I ever wish to see in the course of a day again.

After a simple dinner of sandwiches, I sorted through the accumulated mail, and Ali and the kids watched a movie. We were all in bed, asleep, by ten. Of course, that means we were up earlier than we would have liked. Ali and I were awake and making a pot of coffee at 5. The kids stayed in bed a bit longer.

But, at least, we got a good night's sleep, and a head start on getting over the jet lag. And we will be able to get out and about to do some last minute shopping before the crowds hit the local retail areas.

After we are done with the shopping, I'm thinking it might be a good day to build a fire in the fireplace and watch movies.

I hope your Saturday will be filled with family, fun, and love.

Damn

UK lost to the Tennessee Volunteers today in the 4th overtime. The final score was 52-50.

I'm proud of the Cats. It was a hell of a game, a season to remember, and we will be going to a bowl.

But it would have been nice to beat Tennessee, because nothing sucks like a big orange.